Hallow's Victim

VINYL FORMAT. "Crossover is a term that has come to typify the intermingling of the underground hard core scene with thrash metal, as typified by bands such as D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Cro Mags, and Corrosion Of Conformity. But what is less associated with this concept is the idea of two seemingly less compatible styles meshing together, namely punk with the dreary thickness of Sabbath inspired doom metal, as is the case with Saint Vitus. While this tendency was very much present in their self-titled debut, Hallow's Victim exaggerates the extremes of both styles well beyond any notion of subtlety. Perhaps the best way to illustrate just how the sound here comes together is to remark on the utter shift in tempo and feel between the debut and here. If Saint Vitus were a musical representation of a decomposing zombie wailing at its fate, this would be an army of pissed off ghouls starting a mosh pit and literally slamming and tearing each other to pieces. The slowest song on here "Mystic Lady" rests in the upper-mid tempo echelon of Sabbath's material circa 1973 (and gets a bit faster as it goes), while overt cookers like "War's Out Destiny" and "Hallow's Victim" come close to surpassing the chaotic nature of Black Flag's most extreme songs. At times, one could attribute a Thrash-like nature to this, albeit without the crunchy, high end palm muted speed riffs and a feel that is as loose as an early '70s jam band. Surprisingly enough, in spite of the often frenzied nature of this album, it proves to be among the more strictly structured of Vitus' offerings. The character of the guitar sound is still bass heavy and muddy, but the riffs that set the tone for each song are somewhat more elaborate, yet follow very idiomatic patterns. The lead breaks are a bit shorter and somewhat less noise driven; actually tending to resemble Iommi more than Hendrix, where the opposite is usually true on other offerings. Reagers' vocals are a bit more aggressive and exaggerated, but still noticeably punk influenced. The rhythm section is a bit more driving, but still littered with drum fills and even a few more bass runs than usual, as proven out by upbeat musically yet lyrically cynical anthems like "The Sadist" and "White Stallions". In essence, one could say that these songs are depressingly fun, or somberly enjoyable, if that makes any sense." – Encyclopaedia Metallum